Garry’s “Things I Actually Liked” 2015

BiSH

Long time readers of the site (I know there’s a few of you left) will know how much of a BiS fan I was. Naturally, I was pretty bummed out when they disbanded in July of 2014. My all time favorite idol group was gone, and try as they might none of the groups who followed in their path really did anything for me.

Fast forward to almost exactly 12 months ago and Watanabe Junnosuke announces that he’s creating a new group with the intention of being the true successor to BiS. If I’m being totally honest, I wasn’t really sure what to make of the news at first. Perhaps that information comes as a surprise to some people but let me explain.

I should have been excited right? A “new BiS” managed by the same guy who made all of the magic happen with the original. It’s basically everything I had been looking for since BiS called it a day. Still, I was a bit cautious and perhaps even a little put off by the idea of Watanabe using past glories to build in an easy new fanbase for his new project. The whole thing could just suck for all I knew.

So they reveal the new members (Aina, Chitti, Hug Me, Momoko and Yukako) and I believe the song “Spark” and I’m just kinda keeping the whole thing in my periphery at that point. The girls look pretty interesting from what I see on Twitter and the song is decent enough. There’s still nothing hooking me though and they also lost a member (Yukako) pretty early on so I didn’t really want to get too invested either. The whole thing could implode on itself with them only releasing one single or something.

Well, they threw a curveball by announcing a self-titled album that released in May with a PV to accompany it, featuring the song “BiSH -Hoshi ga Matataku Yoru ni-“. I was expecting something shocking and they definitely delivered, the video mostly features the members being covered in simulated feces and other bodily fluids. The video itself didn’t really help improve my opinion of BiSH being a cash grab tribute group, but this song was actually really good.

In a marketing masterstroke, in the weeks leading up to the album’s release, BiSH started uploading the songs from it onto their Soundcloud page. I was already enjoying “BiSH -Hoshi ga Matataku Yoru ni-” more and more so I figured I should check out the rest of the album. I was instantly impressed by songs like “Monsters”, “Is This Call??” and “School Girls, Bang Bang”. At that point I finally put in a pre-order for the album.

Over the next few months, my interest in the group continued to grow. However, it did take a bit of a knock when they announced an audition for new members just 4 days after the release of their debut album, but this news was also accompanied by the intention to release a debut single in September so I was willing to see how it played out.

September came along and with it came new members Hashiyasume Atsuko and Lingling as well as what would be the true “all-in” moment for me. The PV for “OTNK” was released and I loved it straight away. The song (allegedly about penis) had some similarities to the BiS of old but at the same time it was unlike anything they’d ever done in the past. This group is awesome, and awesome in their own way.

Since then, I’ve just been spending more time learning about all of the members and seeing what makes them tick. On paper, this group should not work at all, but somehow it does. I think the most striking thing is the dedication of the members, who all want to see the project succeed for their own personal reasons. I don’t know if I’m just completely drunk on the Kool-Aid at this point, but this group feels like it’s actually full of real people.

If you want to understand where I’m coming from some more, head over to the BiSH thread on Hello!Online where myself and some other folk hang out a lot. There’s translated interviews, videos of funny stuff Momoko says/does and a whole lot more. Outside of maybe Facebook, it’s the best place for BiSH information that I’ve personally found.

I’m going to end this novel by saying that BiSH have quickly become one of, if not my favorite idol group on the go right now. I’m eagerly awaiting the end of this month when their second album “Full Metal Jacket” release and also what else they’ll be getting up to in 2016.

About NSK

New School Kaidan is a community-focused website for the Japanese idol industry international fan base. Between podcasts, broadcasts, events, and analytic articles, New School Kaidan aims to bring an understanding of idol culture to the masses.